Texas and region

Friday

A 92-year-old woman suffering from dementia was found dead 100 yards from her West Texas home after going out in only a nightgown and house shoes Christmas Day.

The Abilene Reporter-News reported a helicopter pilot discovered Ruby Lester's body early Thursday morning in tall weeds near her home in Clyde, a town of about 3,300 located just outside Abilene.

Lester's daughter reported her mother missing Christmas Day after arriving at the home and finding that her mother wasn't there and the front door was unlocked.

DALLAS

A man died in a Dallas house fire in which passers-by were able to rescue a woman.

Dallas Fire-Rescue said a man on his way to a recreation center across from the home saw smoke Thursday morning and called 911. Then he and two other men went into the home and rescued the woman but were unable to reach the man.

Fire officials said the woman was taken to a local hospital as a precaution after inhaling a little smoke.

KERRVILLE

Officials said a Central Texas man has been arrested in the beating death of his common-law wife.

The Kerr County Sheriff's Office said deputies called to the Kerr County home on Christmas Eve found 75-year-old Vivian Niemeyer dead. Officials said she "had been severely beaten and was partially clothed."

They said her common-law husband, 65-year-old Ervin Dean Lucky, was arrested.

CEDAR HILL

Police in suburban Dallas said a homeowner shot and killed an intruder who broke in late Christmas Eve.

Chris Knox, an attorney for the homeowner, told The Dallas Morning News the intruder entered the Cedar Hill home through a bedroom window just before midnight Tuesday. Knox said the homeowner's deadly actions were justified and "completely protected under Texas law."

A 33-year-old Bexar County man condemned for the slaying of a San Antonio police officer nearly 13 years ago is a step closer to execution after a federal appeals court rejected his appeal.

Attorneys for Manuel Garza Jr. argued to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that he had deficient legal help at his trial in 2002 for gunning down officer John Riojas. The New Orleans-based court last week rejected the argument.

Compiled from wire reports

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.